


A Rose by any other name

by Tailor1971



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Banter, Boyfriends, David Rose Loves Patrick Brewer, Fluff, Flufftober 2020, I don't know if this is tooth-rotting fluff but sugar is involved so maybe?, M/M, Patrick Brewer loves David Rose, Post S5E13 The Hike, Romantic Fluff, fiances, half-written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27211708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tailor1971/pseuds/Tailor1971
Summary: Patrick finds some of David’s post-proposal doodles and it leads to a discussion about what their last name might be once they get married. Cookies and cake pops are involved.This is set in Season 5 between S5E13 “The Hike” and S5E14 “Life is a Cabaret”.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 19
Kudos: 123
Collections: Rose Apothecary Flufftober 2020





	A Rose by any other name

**Author's Note:**

> This is my entry for the Flufftober 2020 prompt “Half-written”, as part of the Rose Apothecary Flufftober 2020 group collection.
> 
> “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose  
> By any other name would smell as sweet.”
> 
> Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare

Patrick peered into the display case at the Sweet Dreams bakery in Elmdale to see if they had any of their chocolate chip cookies left. They had been David’s favorite ever since Patrick sent him the large, heart-shaped version on the morning of their four month anniversary. Of course, after their fight at the barbecue that evening David claimed he would need a little time before he could eat them again. After waiting a respectable two weeks, he went and bought another dozen. The fact that they were the best chocolate chip cookies he had ever eaten helped him get over any negative associations that may have resulted from his very temporary break-up with Patrick.

Patrick’s morning meeting with their accountant had run nearly forty minutes longer than he had anticipated. It meant that not only had David woken up early to open the shop, he would now have to man the counter alone until lunch. If Patrick was going to show up this late, he would need a peace offering. Luckily for him the bakery had plenty of cookies left, so he bought a dozen and added six chocolate cake pops for good measure.

When he got back to his car, he gave David a quick call. “Sorry I’m running late. My meeting with Sam ran over. You know how she can be. She got excited about our engagement so we talked about that for a while, and then we talked about our plans for next quarter. But I’m on my way now.”

He was expecting David to give him a hard time with some good-natured snark, but instead David sounded...distracted. “Oh, yeah, Sam. It’s all right. I’ll see you soon.”

“How’s it been this morning? Busy?”

“Kinda slow. Nothing too exciting. Roland came in and was gross but that’s nothing new.” David sighed into the phone.

Patrick chuckled at the mention of Roland. “Well, I should hang up so I can get back on the road. See you in about half an hour? Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Patrick heard the beep as David hung up. David was usually more talkative on the phone, but since he wasn’t shy when it came to talking about drama at the store, Patrick trusted that it had been a fairly uneventful morning. He texted a heart emoji to David and then started on his way to Schitt’s Creek.

***

David was leaning over the counter writing something when Patrick arrived at the store. As soon as the bell rang, David straightened up, folded a piece of paper, and hastily threw it on the shelf under the counter. When he saw the bakery box he beamed. “What’s in the box?” he asked, shimmying his shoulders in anticipation.

“Just a little treat to say I’m sorry for being late.” Patrick placed the box on the counter and leaned in for a kiss. David kissed him back but Patrick could hear him opening the box at the same time. Patrick started laughing.

“Mmm...Cookies  _ and  _ cake pops?” David said with a lilt to his voice. “Are you sure this is just because you were held up at the accountant? It almost seems like you’re apologizing for something bigger.” David bit into a cake pop, closed his eyes, and moaned a little. “All is forgiven,” he mumbled around a mouthful of chocolate cake.

“That was easy,” Patrick said as he stepped around the counter and into the back room to drop off his files and hang up his blazer. When he came back David was halfway through one of the cookies.

“I think I’ll go to the cafe and get some coffee to go with these. Do you want some tea?” 

“Yes, please.” Patrick smiled and shook his head a little as David grabbed another cookie on the way out the door. ‘See you in a few,” David said as the bell rang and the door closed behind him.

Patrick took a step forward to snag a cookie for himself and heard something crinkle underfoot. He bent down to pick it up. It was a piece of paper out of the notebook David used to take stock before placing orders. David would frequently doodle in the notebook when there were no customers, so Patrick expected to find sketches of the store, or maybe the design for a new label.

When he unfolded the paper the first thing he saw was the hearts. There were hearts of all shapes and sizes drawn on the top of the page. Some were plain and some were intricate. Some were in groups of two. Some had arrows drawn through them. A small chubby cherub - Patrick assumed it was Cupid (although it did bear a striking resemblance to him) - was in the upper right corner, drawing back his bow and taking aim at the largest heart in the center of the page.

Underneath the hearts, David had written out his name:

_ David Brewer _

_ David Brewer Rose _

_ David Brewer-Rose _

_ David Rose-Brewer _

Near the bottom of the page David had written “Brewer” several times, building a muscle memory for signing the name. He had tested different ways to write the “B”; sometimes it was just a printed capital letter, and sometimes it was loopier and the last stroke circled back and directly transitioned into the rest of the signature. 

Patrick was fascinated and just gazed at the paper for a few minutes, letting the significance of what he was seeing slowly wash over him. David was thinking about taking his name. It made perfect sense - they had just become engaged and David was planning the wedding and everything that would come after that. But Patrick realized that the thought of taking one another’s names hadn’t crossed his mind at all.

It was different when he had proposed to Rachel. That proposal came prepackaged with a tidy little roadmap. Rachel Wilson would become Rachel Brewer. Patrick would get a corporate job that allowed them enough money to buy a nice home in a respectable neighborhood. After a few years they would have children, and probably a big friendly dog for the kids to play with. It was safe and predictable, and there had been a certain comfort in that (even if it sometimes felt stifling).

With David, however, the proposal felt like the start of something exciting and uncharted. Everything seemed new. Part of the adventure would be forging their own path. They could decide for themselves what each step would look like, just as they had with their business. It was a sense of freedom he hadn’t felt in a long time, if he had ever felt it at all before meeting David.

The bell over the door rang and Patrick looked up to see David pushing the door open with his back, to-go cups in each of his hands and a half-eaten cookie between his teeth. He strolled to the counter, let Patrick take his tea, and took the cookie out of his mouth long enough to give Patrick another quick kiss.

“Thanks again for the cookies. They were a nice surprise,” David said as he took a sip of coffee. He nodded his chin in the direction of the folded piece of paper in Patrick’s hand. “What’s that?”

“Oh, this?” Patrick said, looking at the paper casually, as if he forgot he was holding it. “I found it on the floor after you left.”

David’s eyes widened a bit. “So, you picked it up and put it on the counter and didn’t read it?”

“No, I read it.” Patrick smiled as he came around the end of the counter. “C’mere.” He hoisted himself up onto the countertop and pulled David in between his legs. He kept his hands on David’s waist. “Taking each other’s names would be a big step. Do you want to talk about it?” He nudged David’s nose with his own to encourage him to make eye contact.

David finally looked up, his mouth pulled into a side smile. “I don’t know, maybe? I was just playing around.” David put his arms around Patrick’s shoulders. “Look, for the longest time I wasn’t even sure if I ever would get married. And then, if I did get married, I wasn’t sure what the gender of my spouse would be. When you proposed, I may have gone a little overboard researching gay marriages to see what other couples were doing. And then this morning I was reading an article about all the male couples who are choosing to hyphenate their names...” David ran out of breath and stopped to inhale.

Patrick chuckled. “Hey, hey, take a breath.” Patrick cradled David’s jaw tenderly. “David, I love that you’re thinking about this stuff. I’m really excited, too. But I don’t want to get caught up in comparing ourselves to other people. I want us to make every decision about the wedding and the marriage for ourselves, and not try to live up to anyone else’s expectations.” He leaned in and gave David a soft kiss on his lips. 

“The most important thing,” Patrick continued, “is that in a few months I am going to call you my husband, whatever your last name may be. But just for the record, I love your name. David Rose. It’s the name of the man I fell in love with.”

David smiled broadly and looked up to the ceiling. He really didn’t understand how Patrick was always able to find the words that spoke directly to his heart. 

Patrick ran his thumb over David's cheekbone. “If it’s important to you, I could take your name. Patrick Rose has a nice ring to it.”

David shook his head. “No,” he whispered. “I like Patrick Brewer.”

The edges of Patrick’s mouth turned downward into one of his upside-down smiles. “You know, we could always combine our names to create a new name. Maybe, Rower?”

David grimaced and shook his head. “I don’t want a name that suggests strenuous physical activity.”

“Let’s see...Brewse?” The impish glint in Patrick’s eye let David know that Patrick was just trying to push his buttons now.

“ _ Bruise? _ ” David said, his nose crinkling in disgust. “Hard pass on that option.”

“Oh, oh. I’ve got it. Bros!”

David threw both hands in the air. “That’s it. The wedding’s off.”

“How ‘bout Browser?” Patrick yelped with laughter as David dug his fingers into the ticklish spot on his flank.

“You’re being very cute right now,” David said, placing his hands on Patrick’s shoulders. “But I think you’ve exhausted all the possible combinations of our two short names.” David slipped his arms back around Patrick’s shoulders and gave him a sweet, chaste kiss.

“Maybe we can just be David Rose and Patrick Brewer?” David said when he pulled back.

Patrick regarded him with his warm, brown eyes. “That works for me.”

“Good.” David placed one of the cake pops into Patrick’s mouth. “You should at least get one of these before I eat them all.”

Patrick took a bite and savored the sweetness of the chocolate. “Thank you, David Rose.”

He couldn’t imagine his Rose having any other name.

  
  



End file.
